Balance to the Force
by Candace Marie
Summary: Alternate version. Anakin is Darth Vader. Darth Vader captures Ferus Olin, and finds ObiWan Kenobi. What will happen when they meet? Please R& R! Darth Vader's limbs are regrown. He is restored from what he was. Luke and Leia are in this one too!
1. Darth Vader

Balance to the Force

Chapter One

Darth Vader

This is how it feels to be the Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, the man formerly known as the hero with no fear, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, if you use the term man loosely. The first dawn in your universe brings pain. The light burns you, will always burn you. Part of you will always lie upon black glass sand beside a lake of fire while flames chew upon your flesh. Part of you will always see the last thing you ever saw, Obi-Wan scooping up your lightsaber and shaking his head sadly, leaving you to die. You can hear your breathing. It comes hard and harsh, and it scrapes nerves already raw, but you cannot stop it, you cannot even slow it down. Mechanisms hardwired into your chest will pump oxygen into your bloodstream forever. Anakin Skywallker used to scream inside your head now he's merely a whisper of what you should have been. All the pain you feel you put into others. You don't feel human, you barely feel alive. You are one of the most feared, most powerful beings in the galaxy. There are none who oppose you. The only person you answer to is the Emperor.

At night, it's different. While asleep Anakin Skywalker takes hold of your dreams. Memories of Anakin Skywalker's life return to haunt you. He's merely a ghost, a spirit and he isn't capable of grasping the power you wield, you think sadly.

* * *

"I don't want things to change," nine year old Ani said.

"You can't stop change anymore than you can stop the suns from setting." Ani's mom told him. Mom, Anakin screamed. Would you be proud of me now? Would she? Anakin asks Lord Vader. What about your dreams? You have the power to free all the slaves like we always wanted. You wanted, Lord Vader corrects him as Padme Skywalker, and Anakin's beloved wife appears.

"I'm going to marry you," Ani said knowingly.

"You are an odd one. Why do you say that?" she asked, not amused.

"Because it's true.

"I'm afraid I can't marry you..." she looked at him, forgetting his name.

"Anakin," he supplied.

"Anakin, you are just a little boy."

"I won't always be," he said with certainty. Darth Vader writhed in pain against the love Anakin showed him, the concern, and the life.

* * *

The Emperor thought Darth Vader had nightmares. That wasn't true, his nightmare was being awake and trapped in this suit, trapped with a life without Padme and their child. For the first five years he had dreamed of Mustafar. After that he dreamed of Anakin Skywalker, someone who no longer existed. General Tarkin buzzed him in.

"Lord Vader."

"What is it, General?" Darth Vader said testily.

"I was wondering what the Emperor's orders were."

"Leave that to me," he replied. He hated Moff Tarkin. The Emperor used him to keep him in line, to make sure he didn't get soft, to make sure Anakin stayed buried.

"Shall I contact the Emperor personally?" General Tarkin persisted.

"That will not be necessary, General. The Emperor believes that Senator Organa is behind the Rebellion. Bring his daughter to me." Darth Vader paused. "His wife died some years ago, didn't she?"

"Yes, Lord Vader." Darth Vader thought of Anakin's wife and lost child. The child if it had lived could have changed his own destiny. It was too late. It was Bail who had turned his wife against Palpatine and Anakin had risked everything for her safety. Bail had caused Padme's betrayal and the loss of their child. Better that he should worry over his child's safety. Sometimes doing one's duty was torture, and sometimes, he thought with a smile, it was a real pleasure. He faltered as he thought of the Princess of Alderaan.

He had met Princess Leia Organa before. She was very diplomatic and almost cold to him, although he sensed very little fear of him which had aroused his curiosity in her before. He had stayed busy up until now to do anything about it. She reminded him of Padme and his mother, though it made no sense. He also sensed that she was strong in the Force and had never mentioned her to the Emperor since she could be his chance to overthrow the Emperor and make things the way they should be. She was the same age their child would have been had it lived.

* * *

Lord Vader entered his personal chambers and the oxygen tank where he could breathe without the suit and mask. He was as alive as the monster he had become could be. If only the power could make him forget, or make Anakin completely disappear into the void so that he could become one with the dark side as the Emperor, his master, was. It his chambers hung his black Jedi garb scorched from Mustafar. It was as bare as his room at the Jedi Temple had been, or his home on Tattooine as a slave. He wondered what had become of See Threepio and Artoo. They had been with him and Padme on Mustafar. If anyone knew it would be Obi-Wan and when he next saw Obi-Wan he would pay as dearly as Anakin had paid, as Darth Vader paid every night that he slept. A storm trooper knocked and Darth Vader used the dark side to hurl him against the wall. Except for the exert of power; life had no meaning. They knew better than to disturb him while he was in his personal chambers. If they needed something they could page him, not disturb him in his room. Darth Vader pushed a button, "Send someone to clean up the mess in the hall."

"Yes, Lord Vader," he heard and wondered at the brains behind the storm troopers. Lord Sidious was supposed to be brilliant; so why had it been so easy for Obi-Wan and Yoda to get back into the temple. They had changed the temple's beacon from his message for all surviving Jedi to return. Lord Vader sighed, when he was the Emperor he would clone someone who was incapable of being manipulated with a simple mind trick.


	2. ObiWan Kenobi

Chapter Two

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi sat in his hovel with the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn and the hologram of Master Yoda. "Young Obi-Wan."

"Hardly," Obi-Wan, who went by the name Ben, to protect him from his old padawan, these days said stroking his white beard. "Master Qui-Gon there are days I don't even feel like myself."

"Miss Anakin's humor you still do, hmmm?"

"He's Darth Vader now."

"Hard for you to accept this was?"

"Yes, Master Yoda. Anakin was my best friend. We were so alike, yet used so differently."

"By Palpatine, my padawan."

"Yes, Master."

"Save him, Obi-Wan. I wasn't wrong about him. He's not heady with power as he was on Mustafar."

"You were there?"

"I have always been with you, Obi-Wan. I have to say I love the way you defeated Grievous though to late to save Anakin."

"I killed him with a blaster."

"You were in the present, in the force."

"Master, no disrespect but isn't it too late for Anakin."

"Once you start on the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny."

"If Padme couldn't reach him what chance do I have?"

"He was new to the seduction of the dark side. I've watched him. He's sad and lonely, much like you are Obi-Wan."

"It's impossible. No one ever returns from the dark side."

"Obi-Wan, are we talking about anyone or the chosen one?"

"Matters not. Evil Anakin has become. Anakin is dead, replaced by Darth Vader."

"Obi-Wan," Master Qui-Gon said softly, "You can't face him directly, he is Lord of the Sith. Use what I've taught you. Appear to him. Talk to him. He can still be saved."

"I hope right you are," Master Yoda said.

"The Empire must fall," Master Qui-Gon said, and it was the only thing they all agreed on. Obi-Wan took a deep breathe. If there was even a glimmer of a chance that the Chosen One could be saved, he had to take it.

"What about Luke, he will still need protecting?" Obi-Wan asked stroking his beard thoughtfully as he considered everything.

"You are going in actual form, Obi-Wan just spirit form," Qui-Gon explained. "You must not mention Luke…or Leia until he's ready. To be healed he cannot still look like Vader. We must work together to heal him internally and externally," Qui-Gon explained. "He still thinks of you, my padawan."

"I'm sure. He thinks of my head beneath his lightsaber."

"During his waking moments, yes."

"Master?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I cannot tell you anymore. Your destiny is linked with Anakin's. When he fell you fell as well, did you not?" Obi-Wan didn't comment.

"If fail you do. Take Luke I will," came the wise voice of Master Yoda.


	3. The Voice

Chapter Three

The Voice

"You won't find me, Darth Vader," Obi-Wan's voice said.

"Reveal yourself, Jedi. It's only a matter of time. I will find you Jedi. You can't hide from me forever. I've destroyed more like you. I will destroy you; you will pay and be brought to justice swiftly."

"Justice. Hardly. You know better than I what the Emperor's idea of justice is."

"It's not what I thought it would be. Maybe you were right. Death and vengeance can never breed peace."

"Did I say that?"

"Yes, Obi-Wan," Darth Vader said sighing.

"Face up to what you have done. I can help you."

"It's too late for me. Someday, I will be the Emperor."

"Anakin..."

"That name no longer has any meaning for me. Look at me. Obi-Wan look at me. I'm a Sith Lord and a monster. One day I will be the Emperor, I will fix the galaxy, and I will put things back to how they should be. To how _she _would want them."

"Anakin Skywalker is my friend, my former padawan. A man who saved my life nine times."

"Ten," the figure of Darth Vader corrected, a smile forming on scorched lips that had forgotten how to smile. Becoming aware of this Darth Vader wrapped the shadow around him like a security blanket, shutting out the light, shutting out Anakin.

"For what it's worth, Anakin. I'm sorry, but I had no choice. You did the same thing to Count Dooku, to Ventress; the Jedi in you knows I had no choice."

"I'm not a Jedi. Perhaps the Council was right. I never should have been trained."

"I never thought I would hear Anakin Skywalker filled with regrets."

"Alot of things have changed since the days of playing the Skywalker Kenobi game."

"I know, Anakin. One more time."

"I can't. It goes against what I have become."

"You had become everything I had devoted my life to destroying. Murderer. Traitor. Fallen Jedi. Lord of the Sith. Still I loved you."

"You turned me into this monster."

"I can heal you."

"You can't make me whole again. If it could be done, the Emperor would have done so."

"Would he? Are you so sure? Would he allow you to become more powerful than he is?"

"Treachery is the way of the Sith. One day I will kill him and take his place, he knows this. It's what he has taught me. He would be disappointed with anything less."

"Will you let me help you?"

"It won't change anything. I'm still the same monster. I'm still Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith."

"Qui-Gon disagreed."

"Qui-Gon was killed by that Sith," came the cold mechanic reply. Darth Vader removed the mask and Obi-Wan could have cried looking at his friend's pasty white flesh. Those blue eyes held sadness and pain, regret. There was no hair on his head and a long jagged scar on the top of his head. Obi-Wan flashed back to Mustafar and remembered the hair burning off of his hair and the molten lava. Oh, Anakin he thought sadly. There were no eyebrows, or eyelashes. Obi-Wan remembered a mission they had been on when Anakin was thirteen. There were these kids that couldn't get better because they were been poisoned, they weren't allowed to get better. The Emperor was deliberately poisoning Anakin for years, keeping him weaker. Obi-Wan wondered if maybe Anakin could breathe on his own, that the Emperor had done something to keep him weaker. Obi-Wan was almost sure of it.

"It won't bring Padme or the baby back."

"You knew about the baby?" Obi-Wan gasped. A smile creased Anakin's old looking face. He appeared older than Obi-Wan, nearly as old as Master Yoda, and it broke Obi-Wan's heart.

"I felt the baby kick. You should have seen her face when she told me. It was the happiest day of my life. I told her it was a girl. She swore it was a boy. She ordered the droid not to tell her, she wanted it to be a surprise. That was before the nightmares began."

"Nightmares?"

* * *

"That is none of your concern. Obi-Wan, that's enough confessions for now. You know more about this Lord of the Sith than anyone except the Emperor. Obi-Wan, I've captured Ferus Olin."

"He's still alive?"

"For now." He had been thinking of the past alot lately, and capturing Ferus Olin, one of his old friends, hadn't helped. They had been padawans together, had been knighted together, and had made him transgress. Any other Jedi with the exception of Obi-Wan and he would be dead. After Mustafar his connection to the Force had diminished. He wondered if Obi-Wan He wondered how Obi-Wan planned on making him whole. Part of him was afraid, that he would be connected to the Living Force, that he would no longer be able to gaze at life from a distance.

* * *

When Ferus Olin was arrested, Darth Vader had gone to him and had been rewarded with the same cocky voice from the past, "Once a good guy, always a good guy. What can I say? But you wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

Darth Vader had smirked as his mechanical voice replied. "You'd be surprised at what I know about that. I know you, Ferus."

He saw the saw the shocked look and the truth of it reflected in Ferus's eyes and wished he could retract that statement. "I know your type," he tried to correct as he strode away ordering high leveled troopers to guard him, some that weren't so weak-minded.

* * *

"Anakin," Obi-Wan's voice snapped him out of recent memories.

"Anakin is dead. Stop talking to him. He's only a ghost. He doesn't exist anymore. Leave him alone," Darth Vader roared.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan continued regardless, " I need you to concentrate. Focus on your lungs I can't regrow your lungs but clone technology can regrow your limbs. The force will heal your face, your lungs, unless you have someone here who looks after these sort of things who won't let the Emperor know."

"What if I let the Emperor know?"

"You and I both know if he suspects that your power is stronger than his, he will kill you."

"I can't die. I'm the Chosen One. You should have killed me. Why didn't you?"

"I couldn't."

"Weakness," Darth Vader scoffed. "Or perhaps you wanted me to suffer. It would have been merciful to kill me. I wish you had. Go back to that Wasteland you crawled out of. I will kill you, Obi-Wan."

"Compassion, Anakin. Reverence for life, even yours," Obi-Wan replied. He knew there was a war going on inside Anakin's head, and that he was the cause of it. Part of Anakin, hated him and wanted to kill him. There was another part of Anakin who felt ashamed of what he had done, of what he had become, and that was the part Obi-Wan was hoping he could reach.

* * *

Darth Vader pushed a button and droids appeared. "My own personal droids. They report solely to me. Trust me; I've looked into their programming. "Obi-Wan smirked as he appeared, Anakin didn't trust Palpatine.

Anakin stared at Obi-Wan's new figure, "You look old, Obi-Wan."

"Aging is a natural part of life."

"Along with death right, Obi-Wan. My mother, my wife, my child."

"I'm truly sorry, Anakin."

"The droids will take orders from you."

"Anesthesia," Obi-Wan's form ordered and Darth Vader was put under. They were mechanisms in Anakin's chest that were keeping him from breathing. Obi-Wan had them remove them, and waited for Anakin to awake.

"Padme, I have to save you," Anakin whispered. "I want more but I know I shouldn't. I'm not the Jedi I should be."

* * *

"Anakin, wake up."

"Obi-Wan, I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to be put on the Council. You're going to need me on this one."

Tears filled Obi-Wan's eyes as he listened to Anakin.

"Master Windu, I need...to...talk...to Obi-Wan," Anakin's voice was filled with pain. "You don't understand. Only Obi-Wan..." Anakin's voice trailed off. If Obi-Wan had only stayed.

He shook Anakin lightly. "Anakin, wake up."

"Master, how's Padme? Is she alive?"

A punch hit Obi-Wan's gut with that. "Anakin wake up."

"Yes, Master," came the voice in reply as he brushed the grime of sleep out of his face. Obi-Wan wished he could hide his face and be back on whatever mission Anakin thought they were on.

While Anakin was still asleep and feeling like Anakin rather than Darth Vader he concentrated and healed his face, his eyelashes and hair would now grow back, once Anakin knew about the poison in his bloodstream. Making Anakin powerful again could be dangerous.

"There's still good in you, Anakin. Those were Padme's last words."

"Padme," came the whispered reply. "Master," he coughed, "it's not what you think. I didn't," Anakin coughed again. "I married her," Obi-Wan knew then that Anakin knew exactly where he was and everything that had transpired since the days of Skywalker and Kenobi.

"I know, Anakin. When I found out about her condition. I knew you had married her. I never thought for one second that you had abandoned her. I just didn't realize that she had confided in you her condition. She wanted to protect you."

"That was my job. I was her husband, I was a Jedi. The Chosen One, the Hero with No Fear."

"What do you want out of life, Anakin?"

"Power. A sense of duty. Peace for the Emperor. One day I will become the master and I'll train an apprentice, peace for the galaxy. Now, Kenobi, stop calling me Anakin. He's as dead as _she _is."

"Anakin, you have to take the first step back to the light."

"Anakin doesn't exist anymore."

"Yes, he does."

"I slaughtered them. All the Jedi, and that's not all. Nute Gunray, all the Separatists leaders. They were all unarmed. It was cold blooded murder. They were unarmed. You are right about me. I'm nothing but a murderer, Obi-Wan. You never asked me why I went to Tattooine with Padme when I should have been on Naboo protecting her. You want to know, Obi-Wan. The Tuskan Raiders had kidnapped my mother. She was weak, beaten, and bloody and she died in my arms. So I drew my lightsaber and I killed them all, men, women and children. I killed them."

"Anakin, you aren't some heartless monster."

"I've destroyed entire planets at my whim."

"Yours? Or the Emperor's?"

"We're on the same side."

"We used to be on the same side."

"Things change Obi-Wan."

* * *

"I know." Obi-Wan said disappearing and giving Anakin time to think and figure things out. Darth Vader looked in the mirror he'd had brought in. He could finally breathe and the air was stale. Darth Vader sneezed. He had been fed through tubes for more than a decade. Food. He could eat again. He hadn't eaten since the nightmares about Padme's death began. Darth Vader looked in the mirror and saw Anakin stared back at him. "Now where did you come from?" Darth Vader said staring at him. "I thought I buried you."

"Nope. You've just hidden me. I'm going to win."

"You don't understand the power of the dark side."

"Dark side, it doesn't impress me."

"Checkmate," both voices said as he fell asleep.


	4. Ferus Olin

Chapter Four

Ferus Olin

Anakin's memories swept over Darth Vader. Anakin was with Padme on Genosis. The tunnel was dark and gloomy and quiet, except for the echo of cheering from the arena.

"Don't be afraid," he whispered his voice soft and caring.

"I'm not afraid to die," she said her voice, thick and soft. "I've been dying a little everyday since you came back into my life."

He stared at her, afraid to believe, afraid to hope, afraid to love. "What are you saying?"

Then she said it, and it was real and genuine and warm. "I love you."

"You love me?" he asked, clearing his throat which had become thick with emotion, "I thought we had decided not to fall in love, that we would be forced to live a lie, that it would destroy our lives."

"I think our lives are about to be destroyed anyway. My love for you, Ani, is a puzzle which I have no answer for. I can't control it and now I don't care. I truly deeply love you and before we die I want you to know."

"Padme, you are not going to die here. We're going to be okay. I won't let anything happen to you ever," Anakin said as peace washed over him.

"I know, Anakin."

"So what you have Jedi powers now too?"

"Oh, Ani."

"Padme, if we get out of this marry me."

"Anakin, are you sure?"

"I've never wanted anything more."

"Me either," she said and he leaned in to kiss her before they were escorted into the arena where Obi-Wan and the Genosians awaited.

* * *

Darth Vader awoke, nearly feeling Padme's lips on his, his memories so strong... "You are not in control," Darth Vader told Anakin."Wanna bet?" Anakin replied. Darth Vader had his mask secured and the suit on as it had been before Obi-Wan had force-healed him or whatever had happened while he was under. He had spent a few hours in a bacca tank and was as good as new, better in fact than the Emperor had ever let him be. He stepped inside Ferus's holding cell and dismissed the storm troopers.

The Jedi looked at him thoughtfully. "I know you too, Vader."

"Lord Vader, Ferus."

"I heard that you kill Jedi on sight. Go ahead take your pound of flesh."

"The only reason you are still alive is because I once knew you."

"The Emperor wants us the think you appeared out of nowhere on the birth of the Empire. You were a Jedi."

"Once I was a Jedi. I fought in the Clone Wars."

"What Jedi didn't?"

"I'm going to warn you, Ferus Olin. Keep helping the Rebellion and you'll find yourself on the wrong end of my lightsaber."

"Why don't you kill me now?"

"Because I'm going to let you go. You can't hurt me. You don't know who I am. You can't destroy the Emperor without me."

"And I'm supposed to believe that the Emperor's lapdog would turn against him?"

"Perhaps, at the right moment."

"Which is...?"

"When he least expects it. I'm not sure that I can do it alone however."

"Your voice sounds familiar. It's a voice I haven't heard in a long time. I was led to believe that your voice was deeper."

"It was a mechanical voice."

Ferus looked interested. "Why do you use a mechanical voice? To scare people?"

"Not exactly. I was sent to Mustafar at the end of the war to eliminate the threats."

"Eliminate?"

"Assassinate," Darth Vader confirmed.

"The Executor. It fits."

"You are free to go."

"What if I don't choose too?"

"Are you crazy? If the Emperor sees you as a threat he will have you killed. Why do you think the Jedi are all but extinct? Maybe I did it but don't think it wasn't the Emperor's wishes. He was the Sith Lord we were searching for."

"Palpatine was Sidious?"

"Yes."

"I thought you might have been Sidious."

"I know. Alot of people make that misconception."

"Are you human?"

"I was."

"What are you now Vade?"

"Vade?"

"The way I figure it you and I are going to be friends."

"We were already friends. I'm part machine. I've lost my remaining limbs and they were replaced."

"Remaining? You had lost one previously?"

"You are smart for a pompous ass padawan."

"I wasn't so bad."

"You don't know who I am. Other than the Emperor there are only two beings in the galaxy who know my identity. I'm going to give you that gift. Then you are going to leave. You are going to find Obi-Wan and Master Yoda. You will wait for me to decide when we destroy the Emperor and when I return the Empire to the former Republic when I give it to the Rebellion; I want immunity for my crimes against humanity..."

"I don't know if I can do that your lordship. I am not in control of the Rebellion. How do I know I can trust you?"

"Once I put my life in your hands and you put yours in mine."

"Will you tell me who you are?"

"I am the Jedi's Chosen One."

"Anakin Skywalker?"

"One and the same."

"You are the Chosen One. You are the Hero with no Fear. You are alive."

"In a manner of speaking."

"Let me see, prove it."

Darth Vader took off the mask and Ferus laid eyes on his face. Healed but still very pale. "The Emperor had been poisoning me. I trusted him Ferus."

"Your trust was misplaced, Ani."

"I know. No one has called me Ani in years."

"Then it's about time. You are leaving soon."

"Yes, Obi-Wan thinks my limbs can be regrown."

"I'm going with you."

"Ferus, be careful. They don't like Jedi around here. I'm going to rest, all this stress has taken a toll on my body," he said hating to admit it. "Don't tell anyone my identity. I like things this way. If you tell anyone I'll finish the job I started. You got that? It was my task to exterminate the Jedi." Darth Vader stopped and scooped up his helmet and reattached it.

"There may be a way to grant you immunity when I'm sure you are Anakin Skywalker. As long as Masters Obi-Wan and Yoda are the only ones who know. It's not exactly a lie. You were imprisoned by the Emperor. I rescued you on board the Death Star."

"Why can't I rescue myself?"

"It's been years, Ani. If the Hero with No Fear could have rescued himself he would have done it by now."

"Get some rest Ferus; we are leaving in the morning."

* * *

Ferus Olin smiled Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker was alive. There was hope even if that hope resided in the body of Darth Vader. He was taking steps toward Anakin Skywalker whether he realized it or not. How had Jedi Anakin Skywalker become the emotionless Darth Vader? No, he wasn't emotionless anymore; there had been alot of regret in his voice and eyes. There was hope. Ferus couldn't wait to speak to Master Obi-Wan. He had known Anakin better than anyone. Anakin Skywallker was born to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force.


	5. Meeting

Chapter Five

The meeting

Darth Vader told two of his storm troopers to have Ferus Olin on his starship. He was turning to leave when Moff Tarkin approached him, "Lord Vader, may I have a word?"

Darth Vader barely acknowledged his presence and felt a migraine coming, why had the Emperor put him in control of this Death Star. Why had it even been built? Darth Vader preferred a much more personal manner, so he could see the punishment and pain on his victims' faces. Not blowing up planets, and the part of Darth Vader where Anakin hid, felt pain at the thought of millions of innocent lives snuffed out at once. "Your presence grows tiresome."

"Nonetheless, the Emperor didn't inform me of any problems that require your...specialty."

"Duly noted, Tarkin. If you don't want to find yourself under my specialty, I would suggest not questioning me again." Darth Vader reached into the Force and pushed Tarkin into the air. It would be so easy to feel his life force slip away. If he did too much the Emperor would hear about it and be greatly disappointed. The Emperor was all he had left from Anakin's life. No, there was Ferus and Obi-Wan, Yoda, and himself. But who was he? He used the force to constrict his throat so that he dropped soundlessly to the floor, unharmed. "Nighty, night, General," he said as he boarded his personal starship where Ferus was locked up onboard. "I like to play with Jedi," he murmured as the storm troopers left. Darth Vader released Ferus from his prison as soon as he had taken off and was out of that mask that identified him as Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith. "What happened to you?" Ferus asked Anakin after he was out if the Darth Vader suit, standing on droid prosthesis.

"I did, with a little help from Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Master Kenobi? He was your master, why would he hurt you? Is that why you turned to the dark side and became the Emperor's lapdog?"

"Ferus, no. It wasn't because of my sustained injuries."

"Tell me what happened to you, my friend."

"Ferus, do you remember when the Clone Wars began?"

"Yes, Master Kenobi was kidnapped by the Genosians during a mission, and you and Senator Amidala were to be executed for treason. Master Windu, Master Yoda, and my Master Siri send a group of us to rescue you, although the three of you didn't need much help."

Within Darth Vader Anakin smiled at the memory, although he had always been a little fearful of riding an animal that he couldn't control as he could a speeder. "Shortly after my duel with Count Dooku, after my replacement hand was attached and usable I 

escorted Padme back to her home planet where I made her my wife," he said with a trace of a smile. "She was so beautiful, and I was so nervous, especially about touching her with my right hand, I wondered if it would make her skin crawl, the feeling of touching a droid. Padme wasn't like that and I was foolish to worry."

"Anakin, the Code strictly forbade it."

"I was married to Padme for three years while I was a Jedi. I saved many worlds and saved Coruscant almost singlehandedly."

"And you destroyed the temple and the Jedi."

"It wasn't Padme's fault. It was mine. You don't understand, you've never been in love," Anakin accused.

Darth Vader was whispering in his ear, she didn't love you, she loved Obi-Wan. Deep down they were better suited, and they betrayed you, Anakin. No, she loved me. I felt it through the force. She was having my baby. What makes you so sure it wasn't Obi-Wan's? Darth Vader countered. He wouldn't have betrayed me like that. He was a perfect Jedi. Are you so sure? Darth Vader asked. Anakin wasn't sure, but he whispered back steely, we will soon find out. Darth Vader smiled, wickedly; I'm enjoying meeting our old master.

Ferus Olin watched Anakin/Vader in what seemed to be an internal struggle. "Ani, are you alright?"

Anakin tried to smile but couldn't. "No," he laughed bitterly, "I haven't been right since my nightmares began. I don't have them anymore but the last one..." he trailed off remembering Padme's scream of pain, as she called for him.

Anakin put in the coordinates and felt pity for him radiating from Ferus. "You have no reason to pity me, Ferus. I am Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. I killed all the Jedi, your friends, the younglings. Hate me, Ferus, or help me but don't pity me. You envied me; you wished you were the Chosen One?"

"No, Anakin, you have it wrong?"

"Do I?" Anakin sighed and ran his hands over his still bald head. "I don't know anymore. I know the Emperor lied to me. He wanted me powerless so that I can't destroy him. He's been poisoning me for years now. Ever since Mustafar. I was nearly dead, and had no choice in what was done to me. The prosthesis were so brittle, even See Three Pio was made better when I was nine," Anakin looked around. "I'm so confused. I don't know how much he lied to me but he did. I trusted him, because he was my friend, and because he said he had the power to save my wife."

Ferus nodded as they came out of hyper speed landing on Genosis. He remembered saying something to Anakin Skywalker, something he had failed to do. 'I will watch you, Anakin Skywalker. Your master does not see what I see.' But Ferus too, had failed. Ferus liked the rules, he had always followed them, but since the Jedi purge the rules were gone. There was only he, Master Kenobi, Master Yoda, and the Jedi within Darth Vader.

This is Obi-Wan Kenobi. A man who watched his greatest friend become his greatest enemy. He loves Anakin's son, has sworn to protect him, even if he must protect the boy from his father. A man filled with regret and was placing all his hopes in Anakin and his son, despite the darkness. He saw Darth Vader's star fighter and a wry grin spread across his face as Ferus and Darth Vader dressed in old Jedi garb, looking very pale, as he came toward Obi-Wan on unstable mechanical legs that were concealed in knee-high boots. Obi-Wan felt himself being lifted by the dark side of the force. It was cold. The dark side of the Force. "Hello, Anakin," he said as his throat constricted. "I always said you would be the death of me."

"Let's get this straight, Jedi. This does not make up for what you stole from me. But for now," he said releasing him. "I'll call a truce."

"It's good to see you again, Anakin."

"My name is Vader."

"So, Darth."

"My name is Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith."

"You prefer a name Sidious gave you over the name your mother had given you?" Obi-Wan asked softly. Darth Vader pondered that. He had been named Anakin Skywalker on the day he was born, a day that his mother had said, she had never seen a more beautiful sunset. All of life seemed to have been at peace. Then, there was the day he had been crowned Darth Vader, Anakin…Darth Vader, he corrected himself, had never felt more pain than he had on that day. He had lost everything except his life. No, Anakin had lost everything; he had gained a new identity. He was better and stronger than Anakin in all things. Still, it was worth contemplating. He was stronger than Anakin Skywalker; he had suppressed him for years, so why could he now hear his thoughts. Was it only because he saw him in the mirror. Of course, that was it. It had to be, because if it wasn't, then he didn't know who he was anymore, and worse, he didn't know who he wanted to be. He had shut Anakin out because if it was Anakin's wife that had died and that he had killed, it wasn't his. Had Anakin only been in mourning? Would he once again gain control over his actions? It made his head hurt. He really needed a doctor.


	6. Anakin

Reawakening Anakin

The three Force users walked in silence to Clone Technologies. Ferus wondered when he would be able to tell Master Obi-Wan his secret. Not a soul in the galaxy who remembered Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi would ever have believed things would have turned out the way they were. They were lucky to have gotten Anakin out of Vader's suit otherwise; there would have been no disguising his identity. The whole Empire would have known within hours. When they asked for Anakin's name, Obi-Wan smiled slightly as he answered. "Nikana Starkiller." It was an alias Anakin had come up with years ago. Soon Darth Vader's vision blurred and he was vaguely aware of Obi-Wan's voice, "Leave the right arm."

_Anakin Skywalker was on Coruscant in the arms of his beloved, forbidden wife. She kissed his lips and felt his strong back, making sure he was really there. "There were whispers that you'd been killed."_

_He pulled her back to stare down into her beautiful face, "Never believe stories like that. Never. I will always come for you. I promise."_

"_I've lived a year for every hour you were away."_

"_It's been a lifetime, Padme. Two."_

_Padme reached up and touched a burn scar on his face left by Dark Jedi Ventress. "You were hurt," she asked concerned._

"_Nothing serious, my love. Just an unfriendly reminder to keep up with my lightsaber practice."_

"_Five months, Anakin. How could they do this to us?" He chuckled, low and deep, and he kissed her. She kissed him and the world faded away. "Not here," she whispered, looking around and pulling away._

"_No, here," Anakin argued. "Exactly here. I'm tired of all the deception, of all the sneaking and the lying." Anakin held her close whispering into her mouth. "We love each other, and we are married just like billions of beings in the galaxy. This is something we should shout, not whisper."_

_She pulled back to look into his eyes, "No, Anakin. Not like everyone else. They are not Jedi. We can't allow our love to force you out of the order."_

"_Force me out of the order? Is that a pun?" He pulled her closer and suddenly frowned. "Something's changed."_

"_Everything's changed."_

"_There's someone else. Don't lie to me, Padme. I can feel it."_

"_Ani, oh. Ani, I'm pregnant."_

"_Why…that's wonderful," he said smiling down into her face, letting her see all the joy that her news brought. _

"_What are you going to do?" she asked, biting on her lip and looking worried._

"_Do? We're going to be happy, and we are going to be together. All three of us."_

"_But…"_

"_No buts and no worries. Besides, you worry too much as it is."_

"_I have too," she said wrapping her arms around him. "Because you don't worry at all.  
_

Darth Vader awoke, not in the arms of Anakin's wife, but in a bacca tank. The Force was all around him whispering to him of things he hadn't considered, easily accessible. It was whispering that Emperor Palpatine had caused him every hurt he had endured to turn him into that monster, the slave he had been. Had he been a monster? Of course not, he had just followed the Empire. He had done nothing wrong? Would Padme see it that way, Anakin asked him. He reached into the Force and opened the bacca tank feeling weaker and yet stronger. He noticed that his arm felt so light. He examined it closely, pinching it. "Ouch," he said. He felt pain, there were nerve endings! There were even tiny hairs and veins on his arm. It was real! Flesh and blood and human! He was not a machine. It brought unshed tears to his blue eyes.

"Well, Hello there," he heard from his ears, not audio sensors feeding into his brain.

"We've been waiting for you to awaken," Ferus said. He turned and saw both Obi-Wan and Ferus Olin smiling up at him. They watched as an illuminous smile lit up the face of Anakin Skywalker before he stumbled and fell down, taking things too fast as usual.

"Be careful," Obi-Wan amolished, "They stumble who run fast. You must first learn to crawl before you walk."

"Obi-Wan," the figure of Anakin threw at him, "I've been FLYING since before I could walk," the voice replied in Anakin's usual arrogance. "Am I dreaming?"

"No, this is all very real." As quickly as the smile came it disappeared and a look of confusion replaced it.

"Who am I?" he asked very seriously. "Am I the slave boy with an extraordinary gift for machines? The legendary podracer? Am I the unruly, high-spirited, trouble-prone student of a great Jedi Master? The Star Pilot? The Hero With No Fear? The lover? The Jedi Knight? The Dark Lord of the Sith? The Executioner? Can I be any of those things with all that I have done?"



"I can't answer that for you, Anakin," Obi-Wan said as he and Ferus exchanged glances. They had awoken the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker. He had a great fight ahead of him, of that there was no doubt. "There was something I was once told as a Padawan. What is Good if not the teacher of Evil? What is Evil if not the Task of the Good?"

Anakin nodded thoughtfully. "Can you leave me alone? I have a lot to think about. I haven't been connected to the Living Force in so long, I forgot what a punch it packs. It's a little exhausting. You've made me connect to it again. It was easier gazing at life from afar. I don't know who I want to be right now. Why can't I be just like everyone else?"

"It's not your destiny. No matter what you can't just sit idly by. You know that. You have a great destiny, you always have. No one man has ever had a greater impact on the fate of the galaxy."

"I know, Obi-Wan."

"There's still good in you, Anakin. Those were her last words. She was right, I only wished I had believed her sooner." Obi-Wan said as he and Ferus left the room, leaving the man who looked very much like Anakin Skywalker alone with his thoughts. Leaving before Anakin endangered a young boy on the planet of Tattooine.


	7. The Emperor

The Emperor

This is how it feels to be Emperor Palpatine, former Chancellor of the Old Republic, ruler of the Empire, Sith Master. You nearly singlehandedly wiped out the galaxy. The darkness is you and you are the darkness. In your head thousands of millions of Sith legends spout daily. The darkness has offered you a vision. Obi-Wan Kenobi's apprentice could destroy you, could destroy everything you have worked so hard for for the past fifteen years, more than that. That's just how long you've been Emperor. He had always known that treachery was the way of the Sith. It was what he had been taught and what he had taught his apprentices. This is how it feels to be Emperor Palpatine…for now.

The vision disturbed him because he didn't know who the boy was, but he would find out, that much was certain. He was strong with the Force…stronger than he had felt since Vader had become a Lord of the Sith. Vader. Vader's wife had been pregnant. Was it possible that that was the offspring of the former Senator? If so everything he had worked so hard for may be compromised. He knew that Darth Vader would not kill him, not as long as he and only he held onto something that Vader wanted more than anything else. The only problem was that it was the same something that could change his apprentice from a dark lord of the sith back into the Jedi Knight he had been. In his hologramed will and testament he left everything to Darth Vader. After all, it was the destiny of the Sith to rule. He turned on his beacon summoning Darth Vader's image.

"Lord Vader, I have felt a disturbance in the Force," Emperor Palpatine said smiling at the black mask as he watched his apprentice assume a kneeling position.

"I have felt it too, my master," came the mechanical reply.

"Obi-Wan's apprentice will destroy us."

"If he could be turned, he would be a powerful ally."

"Can it be done?"

"He will join us or die."

"The son of Skywalker most not become a Jedi."



"Are you sure?"

"Do you question me?" Emperor Palpatine snarled.

"No, my master."

"I expect you back on the _Devastator,"_

"It is my flagship," Lord Vader retorted.

"Only because I allow it."

"No, because I modified it. I designed it. That's what makes it mine."

"Very well, I have not the time to argue with you. See that you return. I will be expecting you within the standard week."

"Very well, my master."

"Prince Organa's daughter has arrived. I need you to question her."

"Are you sure? He was on your Loyalist committee when you were Chancellor."

"Do you question me, Lord Vader? I thought you were done being defiant."

"Of course, my master," he said and Emperor Palpatine shut off the transmission.

"Soon we will see his true intentions."

This is how it feels to be General Grand Moff Tarkin. You know Darth Vader is up to something. You are more than ready to take his place at the Emperor's side, the place you deserve and would have if it weren't for him. You've been digging into Darth Vader's past and so far have come up empty handed. You explained to the Emperor about Darth Vader's little trip, but he was nonplussed. Lord Vader has stared at you without speaking before. You have seen his powers before. You have heard the rumors. Darth Vader can kill a being without moving a muscle. Despite all your bravado, you are terrified of the huge black bulk of Lord Vader. This is how it feels to be General Moff Tarkin…for now.


	8. Raxua Starkiller

Raxus Starkiller

"Obi-Wan, can you help me back into the suit?"

"For Force sake why?" Obi-Wan called out. But Anakin only smiled, running his fingers through his still short hair.

"There's someone I need to contact and he won't recognize me like this," he stated with a cool smile.

"Okay, Anakin. But I can't stay here much longer myself; it's time I return home. I have left a few responsibilities behind."

"Responsibilities, in Exile?" Anakin laughed. "I thought you had gone off to some dissolute planet to meditate," came the reply that sounded too much like Vader. Ferus came up behind him lifting the heavy suit for Anakin to step into. Obi-Wan had the mask in his hand and wondered if putting Anakin back in the suit was the right thing. He had tried to convince himself for years that the Emperor had killed whatever good there had ever been in Anakin, had he been wrong? Only time would tell if he and Qui-Gon had made a colossal mistake in reviving the Chosen One to his former state.

"Yes, I have made myself a new life. Obi-Wan Kenobi is all but dead to the world now. He belongs to a time long gone. To a more civilized era."

Anakin turned around slowly and folded his arms at his chest, something he had done numerous times. It wouldn't be long now before he would have to return to the Empire. Before he would have to return to his master. Darth Vader was a slave but Anakin vowed that he was not. What was it had had once said to Padme? 'I'm a person and my name is Anakin.'

"Who are you contacting?" Ferus asked. Though they could no longer see Anakin's facial features it seemed he smiled as he turned toward them fully.

"My apprentice."

"But there can only be two," Ferus argued.

"There was meant to be only two, my apprentice and I. There are times like this that I miss Three-pio and Artoo," came the mechanical reply since Anakin had just hooked up Darth Vader's voice. Darth Vader turned from them and walked toward his starship leaving two very confused Jedi in his wake. Ferus and Obi-Wan wasted no time as they followed the Sith Lord.

"Raxus Starkiller," he began, he looked down at the youth, and he was no more than nineteen with dark hair and eyes to match and remembered the day he had saved the boy. He had stuck the boy's father in a force induced slumber although he appeared very much dead to anyone who didn't know and Raxus had captured his own lightsaber before his stormtroopers had arrived ready to blast the boy into oblivion. He had looked and him and at once he had felt the pain of loss for the child he had never had, would never see, for the children he had so thoughtlessly killed during the Clone Wars and he had used the Force to lift the stormtroopers into the air and crashed them into each other. 'Come along,' he had said to the boy. 'More will be along shortly.' He looked at the hologram in front of him as the boy knelt down.

"What is thy will my master?" he asked.

"I have decided to change your orders. Have you located Master Shak Ti yet?"

"Not yet, I'm still en route, master."

"When you locate her. I want you to capture her and bring her to me. The Emperor's days grow short, my apprentice."

"Soon we will destroy the Emperor together," came the heated reply.

"Have you contacted Viceroy Organa yet?"

"No, I am still in contact with several others including his daughter who has gone missing. The Emperor's enemies are great, Lord Vader."

"Yes, they always have been. Arise, my apprentice," he said just now noting that he had stayed in the subservient position. Finally, Raxus stood up and had reputable military bearing that Vader found himself forced to say, "At ease." Raxus immediately snapped into parade rest position and Anakin continued. "I would like to introduce you to Commander Olin. He will be joining you shortly. How is your pilot, Raxus? I trust you won't be needing her replaced."

"No, I think number eight is the lucky number."

"As you wish, Starkiller. You have your orders then?"

"Yes, my master."

"Very well, then. You are dismissed," Obi-Wan watched as the transmission faded.

"Who is he?" Obi-Wan asked softly, looking up at him.

"My apprentice," Darth Vader replied while struggling to take off the helmet. Though he had enjoyed being anonymous the previous years he was tired of being trapped. Easily enough he used the force to take off Vader's garb. "He is the son of a Jedi," Anakin said in a tired voice. "Olin, do you have a starfighter?" he asked.

"No, my lord," Ferus said bowing with a smirk.

"Don't get cute. I've found a purpose for you. Starkiller is just now assembling a Rebellion against the Empire so that the Emperor's spies will have something else to do other than watch my every move. The Emperor's spies are everywhere so we must tread carefully. You know as good as I do that we don't need a repeat of the Clone Wars. What I'm suggesting is a distraction. More often than not the Emperor will assign me the task of tracking down the Rebellion and ending it which will give us ample time that he will not be watching my every move; it's merely a distraction until we are ready to defeat him. We have to have a government in place or their will be open bloodshed. So I'm going to assign you the task of watching over my apprentice."

"Tell me is he a Sith apprentice or a Jedi?" Obi-Wan asked watching Anakin carefully.

"That's a very good question," Anakin stated as he walked into the medic room where he would be sleeping shortly.

"Well, Ani?" Ferus added.

"I really don't know. He thinks he's a Sith apprentice, but I must admit I have taught him to meditate. Although that wasn't something I excelled at. At any rate until I trust him, he must not know that I am restored."

"Trust?"

"It is the legacy of the Sith, something that hurt me…err...something that I took to as well," Anakin corrected himself. He didn't want them to know how deeply he had hurt believing he had been betrayed. It hadn't been long afterwards that he had realized the treachery that his new master was capable of. That he had tricked him, had been grooming him since he had met him. That everything he had believed about him had been contrived to capture the Chosen One.


End file.
